NEEDLE-TIP REPOSITIONING DURING COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY-GUIDED TRANSTHORACIC NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY OF SMALL DEEP PULMONARY-LESIONS - MINOR ADJUSTMENTS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Df. Yankelevitz et al., NEEDLE-TIP REPOSITIONING DURING COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY-GUIDED TRANSTHORACIC NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY OF SMALL DEEP PULMONARY-LESIONS - MINOR ADJUSTMENTS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE, Journal of thoracic imaging, 11(4), 1996, pp. 279-282
The aim of the study was to determine whether a thin-gauge transthorac
ic biopsy needle would be deflected from a straight path as it passed
through lung tissue, and whether partially withdrawing the needle and
reinserting it while applying pressure could significantly change the
degree of deflection. Using a cadaver lung, we showed that the needle
tip was deflected, on average, 2.5 mm from a straight path in a direct
ion opposite to the bevel. The reinsertion technique using pressure ca
used the average deflection to increase to 6.3 mm, a significant diffe
rence from the previous value. We have found this technique to be usef
ul in the performance of transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy of sma
ll deep pulmonary nodules where differences in positioning of the need
le tip by only a few millimeters can achieve the correct, rather than
an indeterminate, diagnosis.